Strive for balance

A good martial artist strives to create balance. Here is an interesting take on the taiji or yin-yang symbol. It is a Japanese kamon or family crest using the properties of yin-yang or in-you in Japanese. A martial artist with balance mentally and physically cannot be moved and thus cannot be defeated.

If we are easily swayed from one side to the other then we can be moved to a place of unbalance. At this place of unbalance, even the weakest of foes can defeat us.

Balance mentally is more important than balance physically. It is said, "Everything in life begins with a thought." Our minds are our greatest weapons - they can defend us or defeat us. How we think is more important than what we do or what we say. Both of those are an extension of our minds.

What will it take for you to be defeated? A terse word or a insensitive glance? We don't always have to be punched in the face to be defeated.

The goal of every great martial art is to create this balance which we call the immovable mind. An immovable mind is one of calmness and imperturbability where can nothing unbalance us.

"If it was just me, I am totally free.

But what is a world, without you and me?

Although we are one, we must think of the sum,

For all, all together, - is the true One.

We want to divide and conquer as well,

With everyone fighting, all is hell.

Stop the fighting and please stop the hate,

For the sake of peace, before its too late.

To love one's self is to love another,

We are all fathers, we are all mothers.

We, the sons and daughters of loved ones.

Share the world with one and all,

To live in harmony, is Nature's call."

- Rev. Kensho Furuya

 

 

Learn to "throw away"

When you look in the mirror, do you see a ghost? Sounds like an absurd question, but although many of us don't see a ghost staring back at us in the mirror, many of us act like ghosts throughout the day. Think about it, a ghost is caught in purgatory forced to relive some moment from their past over and over again. They hang around the same place and do the same thing.

Many of us spend our days relentlessly pursing some thing with the mindset, "If I could only get that thing then..." It is only after we acquire that thing (hopefully) that we realize its futility as we are no closer to happiness than when we started. Furuya Sensei called these things, "gendai seikatsu shukan byo" or modern lifestyle diseases.

Sensei advocated a type of "throw away" learning when he wrote, "As many people might think, learning is not a process of accumulation. This means that it is not a matter of taking and taking for one's self. In True Learning, throw away first. Take and throw away, take and throw away. People understand taking, but not throwing away. If I were to explain it in simple terms, "throwing away" means to take a fresh start in everything you do."

A ghost is someone who cannot "let go" and thus becomes trapped.

A true warrior knows that life is not about pushing themselves to acquire more and more but to learn how to let go of those things which hold them back.

The true balance of budo

"The relationship between Wisdom, Love and Power. Wisdom without Love and Power would be cruel and weak. Power without Wisdom and Love would be dangerous and selfish, and Love without Power and Wisdom would be victimized and foolish. In our hearts we must learn how to find and join all three of these virtues."- Suzanne Lie

Wow! What a wonderful quote. This could be the definition of true budo. A true warrior is at the junction of all three of these. It takes great balance and depth of character to properly and responsibly wield the power that a warrior possess.

If you think studying the martial arts is about crushing others, you are sorely mistaken. It is much much more than that.

2nd Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba passed away 18 years ago today

On this day in 1999, Nidai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba passed away. Aikido is now practiced by millions of people in over 130 countries. What an achievement! Most know that the spread of Aikido worldwide was primarily due to the efforts of 2nd Doshu. What most students of Aikido don't know is how hard it must have been for him. I can only imagine what it must have been like to not only follow O'Sensei but to thrive as well. Having to follow Furuya Sensei and my own struggles must pale in comparison to what 2nd Doshu had to endure.

Here is a story that Sensei used to tell about 2nd Doshu when he was an uchi-deshi at hombu dojo in 1969 just after O'Sensei passed away. 2nd Doshu was under a tremendous amount of pressure. Every where he turned someone wanted something or was threatening to breakaway. People all over the world were gossiping about him or criticizing his every move. The most common belittling thing people would say was, "He is nothing like O'Sensei." One day after Sensei overheard some Aikidoist complaining about 2nd Doshu, he became so frustrated that he confronted 2nd Doshu and said, "Why don't you defend yourself." 2nd Doshu calmly looked up at him and said, "Aikido people don't do bad things or say bad things about other people." The look on 2nd Doshu's face must have been so reassuringly calm because at that moment Sensei was awe struck and thought to himself, "What a great man."

Hearing that story always reminded me of this quote by Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "One becomes vulnerable when one stops to think about winning, losing, taking advantage, impressing or disregarding the opponent. When the mind stops, even for a single instant, the body freezes, and free, fluid movement is lost."

He truly was a great man.

https://youtu.be/v61QXVLWv0I

Awaken the True Warrior Within You

"He is awake.The victory is his. He has conquered the world." - Buddha

"Wake up!" was something Furuya Sensei used to say to us all the time to rebuke us when we would get lazy or weren't paying attention. I used to think he was trying to get us to pay attention, but now I understand that his admonishment was for us to push ourselves to a higher level.

To be awake is to be conscious or aware of not only ourselves but our world as well. As martial artists, there is a tendency to be too shortsighted about ourselves as we believe that since we are developing ourselves that no one else matters.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. There comes a certain time in every person's training when they realize that training in the martial arts isn't about them. We call this "to be awakened."

To be awakened means that one realizes that they don't exist in a vacuum. True power lies not in destroying others but in building them up. Resisting them, roughing them up or just being a jerk shows how juvenile one's level is. Helping others, making them better and building them up is the true illustration of mastery. Are you awake?

"Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power." - James Allen

"If you think you're enlightened; go home." - Ram Dass Ram Dass' quote reminds us that the people closest to us, who know us the best, have the ability to put us off balance no matter how exalted we become.

The holidays can be a huge source of stress. As martial artists, we know that the ability to be calm in the midst of conflict is our greatest asset.

The Dalai Lama once said, “Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways.”

"To find inner peace, be still the mind and let go. Live in the now. Breathe." - Ryokan

To control one's self is the source of true strength. To be able to use our minds properly is true mastery. The ability to be calm is not only the goal in budo training but the display of true power. Our training dictates that we not only be strong and powerful but also kind, compassionate, patient and forgiving.  After all, it's the holidays regardless if we are warriors or not.

Be strong, work hard and persevere.

Welcome to the first day of winter! Here is a classic Japanese art motif of heavenly bamboo (nanten), snow and sparrow.

Furuya Sensei said, "A truly good human being is hardly noticed by anyone because they are good. This, I believe, is true goodness." Thus, the Nanten is the symbol of our dojo and is supposed to represent something that is so plain and simple that its beauty goes unnoticed. Nanten is a powerful plant and is supposed to have the power to turn evil into good as well.

The Snow represents the harshness of winter and the need to work hard and persevere because not only its temperature but its weight can cause things to break.

The Japanese sparrow or suzume sings, "chu, chu, chu." Chu (忠) usually means to be loyal and therefore the sparrow's song warns us to be loyal, but another variation of chu translates as hard work or mame.

This scroll calls to us to be strong in the face of whatever adversity we are facing in our lives. We learn the most about ourselves during adversity.  A great quote by Albert Camus is, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

When we look at this painting, it is easy to just notice the upfront perception of being a nicely painted scroll. As we look deeper into the symbols it reminds us that in order to be successful ,despite the circumstances, we need to be strong, work hard and persevere.

Anger is an energy

In Japan, it is thought that people have an innate power to not only overcome and persevere but to also excel. When children get to be a certain age, they have something called iji or willfulness which causes them to act out or misbehave. It is the teacher's job to push the students to change their iji into konjou or fighting spirit. This transformation process requires a large amount of strict discipline which sometimes causes the student to dislike the teacher so much that they use this anger or hatred to drive them to excel.

The problem with using negativity as motivation is that we become vessels that are only fueled by hate, anger or fear. That negativity isn't healthy and leads one to lead their lives with a kind of "scorched Earth" way of living. Results or not, it is toxic and unhealthy and will eventually take its toll. A fake quote by the Buddha that is still apropos is, "You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger."

There is a great song lyric from punk rock legend, John Lydon is "Anger is an energy." Anger is an energy but it's not clean energy. As Yoda remarked, "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” We should be careful not to let things like hate, anger or fear motivate us regardless of the reason or results. 

After victory, tighten your helmet

"When you think you're safe is precisely when you're most vulnerable."- Kambei Shimada, Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai

No win is ever permanent. With victory sometimes comes arrogance. That arrogance brings with it a sense of righteousness where we think that either the end of the battle is the end or that we are somehow invincible.

All warfare is based on some form of deception, misdirection or sleight of hand. Sometimes the win is just the calm before the storm or a rouse our opponents uses to gain the overall victory. In martial arts this type of technique is a sutemi-waza or sacrifice technique. We give up something small to get something even bigger.

There is a Japanese saying that Furuya Sensei was fond of, "Katte kara kabuto no o wo shime yo" which means After victory, tighten your helmet.  Never let your guard down even if you think you have won. That just might be what your opponent wants you to think.

The enemy of achievement is comfort

I read a sign the other day, "Comfort is the enemy of achievement." This is a quote by a businessman named Farrah Gray. In terms of budo it is spot on. On the road to greatness, the main question is, "What are we willing to sacrifice in order to get good?" Not can we, but will we forgo things like sleep, money, food, or any other thing that causes us to be a little bit uncomfortable in order to achieve our goals? Most normal people won't, but warriors are not normal people.

Warriors are people who stave off pleasure for purpose. People who "need" to sleep, eat or save the money will never push themselves to get good.  There will always be something. Over the annals of time, the greatest opponent there has ever been and who has beaten millions of warriors has been the soft, warm and comfortable bed. Don't let it beat you!

So the question is, "What will you sacrifice to get good?"

Serenity is the path.

The author, Haruki Murakami said, "When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about." As Furuya Sensei used to say, "The Way is in training." The goal of training is serenity. The path to serenity is training. Training itself is serenity.

What we are trying to achieve by training in the martial arts is not the ability to destroy others but rather the ability to control ourselves so that we don't have to. We seek to be the calm in the eye of the storm.

When confronted, it is easy to lash out and use our darker more negative self to win, but after a while one realizes that the true opponent lies within. It takes a more evolved and more sophisticated person to realize where the real battle lies.

Yoda once said, "That which you seek, inside you will find." Serenity is that thing we all seek. Training is serenity. Serenity is the path. The path is serenity. "The Way is in training." Keep on training because training is the Way.

No matter what, choose to do it

"I took an arrow in the knee" was an old Norse saying to indicate that someone had gotten married. The arrow implies that one of the biggest decisions in one's life isn't necessarily made by choice. Just after Furuya Sensei passed away, I was working with one of my older clients and was telling him about Sensei's death. I said, "Now, I have to take over the dojo." He stopped me and said, "No, you choose to take over the dojo." At the time I did not think I had a "choice" but today I understand that it is what I chose to do. We can be in control or we will be controlled.

Today, in an arguably more civilized society, we are free and thus have freedom of choice. What is choice?  Choice is the ability to decide to empower ourselves with what it is we want. This empowerment begins by saying, "I choose to..."

Regardless of the situation or circumstance we can always "choose" how we internally address what is going on - we give it context. In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, it is called re-framing.  In Buddhism, it is called equanimity.  In budo, it is called the non-abiding mind.

Today, we don't have to do anything but we do get to choose to do whatever we want.  The choice is ours.

Embrace the struggle

We sometimes erroneously think that the Way is the end product - a place of bliss, peace or happiness. However, the place where the Way truly resides is in the places where we struggle. On good days, it is easy to follow the righteous path and anyone can do it. The days and situations that are the most difficult are when we need, utilize and come to understand the true meaning of following the Way. Therefore the Way is in the struggle. That one moment between when we don't want to but do so anyways is the real moment of the Way. Everything else leads up to that point and all others are a result of that decision. "Embrace the struggle and let it make you stronger. It won't last forever." - Tony Gaskins

Art by Sam Didier

Take control

There is a great saying from the movie Sanjuro, "The best swords are the ones that are kept in their scabbards." At the heart of all martial arts training comes the understanding that our minds are our greatest weapons and simultaneously our worst enemies. In the Japanese traditional arts, the highest level one can attain is the ability to show restraint. A master is supposed to be someone who has kokkifukurei or the ability to demonstrate their skills in decorum and etiquette but more importantly their ability to exercise self restraint at all times. Restraint can only come after years and years of training. Restraint is the ability to do the right thing at the right time which one might call seido in Japanese or precision in English. Learn to control yourself and your emotions so that other people cannot control you.  

Fear is the true enemy

At some point in time, somewhere along the Way we all must all confront ourselves.  For each person the what and when are different. This confrontation is an inner battle where we face our own fears and demons. Those things that we fear are the keys that unlock the doors to our inner most sanctum where true peace lies.

If we do not open these doors then sometimes we set off on a darker path that some Star Wars fans might call the "dark side." In this place, we turn our gaze away from our true opponent (ourselves) and we might mistakenly believe that some thing or some other person is our true enemy. It is so much easier to pin our suffering on others rather than accept responsibility and ownership of our selves.

Gandhi said, "The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is really fear." Fear is the gateway to change, but we have to have the courage to face it. When we dig deeper and see what is behind the hatred or anger, it is really fear and we can then realize our own part in our suffering which is that we allow that fear to control us.

Yoda said, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." One only has to look at Anakin Skywalker's evolution to see this to be true.  Anakin Skywalker is the prototypical archetype of one who gives into his fears and allows it to follow the dark side and develop into anger, hatred and suffering.

Today more than ever, martial artist must be a cut above. Don't give into the fear no matter who you support. Move past that fear and conquer your demons and find true peace for yourself. They are not the enemy; fear is. Don't give into that fear.

Seek what they sought

"I have not special talent.  I am only passionately curious."- Albert Einstein

What is true mastery?  Is mastery being able to execute the techniques perfectly?  Is mastery being able to know everything?  I wish that it were.  Mastery is not a static thing that can be measured by achievement.  In Aikido or any other martial art, mastery is a mindset.  Just as Einstein's quote eludes to, mastery is having the openness and willingness to just be curious.  As we become more experienced or perhaps older and more wiser, life becomes less about what we don't know and more about what we can learn.  Wanting to know or to achieve "mastery" as means to stave off self-doubt is replaced with the confidence of curiosity.  Wikipedia defines curiosity as, "a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning...."  Curiosity is not based in fear and it has a calmness about it and calmness is one of the main goals of Aikido training.   To master anything all we need to have is the calmness to be curious.  This calmness to be curious enables us to achieve mastery over ourselves so that we may live a life of harmony and eventually happiness.  If someone as smart as Einstein changed the world by just being curious, what could we achieve by following his example?  Please just be curious.

The victory is yours.

There is a Buddhist saying which some attribute to the Buddha that I am fond of, "It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles.  Then the victory is yours." This saying is very much budo inspiring.  Today, so much time is spent talking about what is "real" or true in the martial arts with practitioners on both sides claiming that their way is the best or only way.

Both arguments are hollow.  The only true way is the way that one truly follows.  All else is just talk and babble which distracts us from the real reality of actually following it.  I am talking about actually living it as best we can.

The Way or do (道) as it is referred to in Japanese traditional arts may be interpreted as a path, but more over its is the direction by which one lives their life.

Following the Way is a doing thing which requires action not a talking thing which can easily be taken over by one's ego.  The Spanish proverb, "Who knows most speaks least." is apropos to budo.

Shall we talk about it?  Shall we even fight with each other about it?  Both of those things distract us from the true battle which exists within.

Furuya Sensei used to say, "The Way is in training."  Training is a doing thing.  It takes so much focus and concentration that any little distraction like spending time discussing or arguing about it only leads us away from the Way.  Sensei didn't say the Way is in talking he said, "The Way is in training."  Training is a doing thing.

Don't get caught up in finger pointing or chest beating, none of which matters.  Who is truly following the Way will be evident by their actions and not by what they say.

The one true way is the one that we follow in thought, speech and in action.  Everything else is just a distraction.

Nobody's perfect

猿も木から落ちる saru mo ki kara ochiru "Even monkeys fall out of trees."

We often think that we "should" be this way or that way.  The word "should" is about control.  When we engage in "shoulds", we give away our ability to control our own lives by choosing  what it is we want and we allow our choice to be governed by something or someone else.

Sometimes, the best thing that can happen to us is for someone to see us when we are most vulnerable.  Then, the cat is out the bag so to speak, and we can drop that false front that we all carry around.  When the jig is up we can relax because our so called worst fear has been realized and then we can take back the control of our lives.

Sometimes the best thing for us is the worst thing that can ever happened to us.

My favorite quote from the book, Tea Life, Tea Mind is:

Be rebuked Stand corrected and learn

Do you want to be great?  Then make some mistakes.  Relax, nobody's perfect.  Even monkeys sometimes fall from trees.

Always assume you are being watched

A good martial artist always hides themselves. All warfare is based upon strategies of deception, misdirection and the element of surprise.  Our opponents can only defeat us if they are more prepared than us or are somehow aware of our intentions or tactics.

In the old days there was a lot of fighting going on.  Simultaneously, there was competition for students and people came to schools in order to defeat them to make a name for themselves.  When someone went to the school in either of these contexts, it was called dojo yaburi or to "break" the dojo.  If they defeated the teacher then they could take over the school or use that win to find a job.  The modern definition of the word yaburi means to escape, but in an older context it was defined as yaburitoru or "to break or rip in half."  A common occurrence after one won was to break the former teacher's kaban or sign in half.

Because someone might want to attack, a good warrior smartly never demonstrated their techniques in public and never drew attention to themselves.  A good rival studies their opponent's every move in order to gain an understanding of how to defeat them.  A good martial artist, therefore, always keeps themselves hidden.

Yesterday I posted a video of 27 different people being robbed on a street corner in Rio de Janeiro.  Most were minding their own business when they were robbed by these hoodlums who were just hanging out waiting for unsuspecting and distracted people to walk by.  When an easy mark walked by, they would snatch something like a necklace or a phone and run away.  The people who were are aware almost never got bothered.

Today, nobody comes to a dojo to "break" it, but this doesn't mean we can let our guard down.  No matter where we are, we can be attacked.  A good martial artist knows this and hides themselves because they never know who might be watching or who wants to attack them.  When we practice we are supposed to be aware of our surroundings so that we don't fall or hurt someone.  Likewise we are supposed to exercise this awareness as we go about our normal day.  A good martial artist is never surprised because they are always aware and thus always one step ahead.